Washer, spinner, and drier



Nov. 14, 1933. G, wl pAvls 1,935,145

WASHER, SPINNER, ANDYDRIER G. W. DAVIS Nov. 14, 1933.

WASHER, SPINNER,

AND DRIER Filed March l5, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov.l 14, 1933. 3.I W,DAvis 1935,l45

WASHER, SPINNER, AND DRIER Filved March l5, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 :D :DI

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@@:DCDQCZDED` ,':DCDCDS l U U U U U u u Patented Nov. 14, 1933 UNITEDSTATES WASHER, sPmNER, AND mmm George W. Davis, Gibson City, flll.,assignor of v one-half to Elvia E. Willett, Bloomington, Ill.

Application March 15, 1933. Serial No. 660,962

. 4 Claims.

This invention relates to laundry apparatus and particularly to acombined washer, spinner and drier. The general object of the inventionis-to provide a single machine wherein laundry may be washed, the waterdischarged from the cleaned clothes by the centrifugal action, and theclothes spun dry and one of the objects of the invention is to provide awashing machine of this character hav-*ing therein a rotatable clothesreceptacle and in a lowered `position entirely immersed in vthe water,the machine being so constructed that under these' circumstances, waterwill be drawn intothe clothes receptacle and ejected forcibly therefromand the machine being further so constructed that the clothes receptaclemay be raised by power and held raised while rotating inthe oppositedirection to that first stated so that the water in the clothes may beejected by centrifugal 2o force to thus spin the clothes dry.

A further object is to provide a machine of this characterI in which theclothes receptacle is mounted upon a screw which constitutes the shaftfor the clothes receptacle so that upon a rotation of the screw underpower in one direction, the receptacle will be lowered into the waterinthe tub and when lowered, rotated, and upon a reverse rotation' of thescrew under the action of power, the receptacle will be raised in theupper portion 30 of the tub and out of the water and be rotated to spinthe clothes dry.

' 'A further object is to provide manually operable means whereby thescrew shaft may be rotated in one direction or the other and whereby itmay be driven at various speeds.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

The invention is illustratedin the accompany-v ing drawings, whereim- 40Y Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View through a machine constructed inaccordance with this invenion;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the driving and driven friction pulleys;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the machine with the cover removed;

Figure 5 is an elevation of the frame for supporting the top and bottomof the clothes receptacle;

Figure 6 is a sectional view through one of the clutch lever supportsshowing the clutch lever in speed controlling clutch lever;

adapted to be rotated by power within the tub Figure 8 is an elevationof the support for the direction controlling clutch lever,

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates a preferably metallic tub ortank having the longitudinally extending blades 11 which also con. 60stitute reinforcing elements of a tub. These blades 1'1 at their upperends are formed with triangular heads 12 lriveted or bolted to the sidewall of the tub as shown in Figure 1.

Adapted to close the upper end of the tub 10 65 is the. cover 13preferably of sheet metal. The bottom of the tub is rounded at itscorners as -at 14 and upwardly and inwardly extended so that the center15 of the tub bottom isvabove the level of the rounded corner portionsV14. 'I'he 70 tub 10 is supported upon a supporting frame designatedgenerally 16 and having the upwardly extending supporting portions 17which are turned inward at their margins and a rubber ring 18 isdisposed between this inwardly turned 75 margin of the annular portion17 and the corners 14 of the tub. The supporting frame 16 may beconstructed in any suitable manner and is provided preferably withcasters.

Extending diametrically across the top of the receptacle from twodiametrically opposed blades 11 is the transverse web 19 having abearing opening 20 at its middle. Disposedthrough the center of the tubis a shaft 20, the upper end of this shaft extending vinto the bearingopening as at 21. and being provided below this bearing opening with acollar 22, held to the shaft by means of a set screw or equivalentmeans. This shaft passes through the bottom 15 of the tub and carriesupon it the upper step bearing ele- 90 ment 23 which rests uponanti-friction rollers 24 carried upon the lower step bearing element 25which is riveted, bolted vor otherwise attached to the supporting plate26. The upper portion of the shaft from a point above the bottom 15 95 nis screw-threaded at 27. The lower end of the shaft is connected todriving means as will be later explained.

Surrounding the shaft just below the bottom 15 is a marine gland 28which is so constructed 10Q cage is composed of a. central annularsleeve 31, an outer wall 32 having openings 34 and vanes 33 extendingoutward from each opening and arranged tangentially of the circular wall32 as shown [in Figure 2. The outer wall 32 is attached at its upper andlower margins to annular frames 35 and 36 which are connected atdiametrically opposite points by the vertical webs 37 as shown in Figure5. Each annular frame 35 is provided with a medially disposed inwardlyprojecting flange 38 as shown in Figure 1, while the frame 36 risprovided'with the inwardly projecting flange 39. Forming part of thesleeve 31 and extending diametrically across the closed receptacle orcage is a bar or web 40 as shown in Figure 4 to which are hinged the twoapproximately semi-circular top sections 41 and 42. These sections eachhave lugs extending across the bar 40 and hinged to the ears 43 of thisbar by means of pivot bolts 44. Latches 45 are adapted to hold the twosemicircular sections 41 and 42 against their seats 38. The bottom ofthe cage is formed by the two semi-circular sections 46 which areriveted, bolted or otherwise attached .to the ange 39 and toY a crossbar 47 shown in dotted lines in Figure 2 and forming part of the sleeve31. Disposed within this sleeve 31 is an interior sleeve 48 which isinteriorly screw-threaded to t the screwthreads 27. This interior sleevemaybe held in place by means of the screws 49 or in any other suitablemanner. l

It will be seen that with this construction, when the shaft 20 isrotated in one direction, the sleeves 48 and 31. with the closedreceptacle 01 cage will move upward until the further movement isstopped by the collar 22 and that then the cage will rotate with theshaft, whereas upon a rotation of the shaft 20 in the other direction,the cage will move downward upon the shaft until it reaches the stopcollar 29 and then the cage will rotate with the shaft. The tub is pro--vided with any suitable drainage means such as the drain pipe 50/provided with any suitable drain valve.

For the purpose of driving the shaft 20 and driving it in eitherdirection and at different speeds, I mount upon the lower end of theshaft 20 the relatively large beveled gear wheel 51 as shown inFigure 1. This is illustrated as held upon the shaft by a key and by aset screw '52. Mounted upon this gear wheel 51 is a second beveled gearwheel 53 of smaller diameter than the beveled gear 51. Extendingtransversely below the lower end of the shaft 20 is a shaft .54 andslidingly mounted upon this shaft but splined thereto is a sleeve 55.This sleeve carries at one end the beveled gear wheel 56 which engageswith the beveled gear wheel 53. The other end of the sleeve carries uponit the beveled gear wheel 57 shown as held to the sleeve by means of theset screw 58 which is adapted to engage with the beveled gear Wheel 51.Inward of this beveled gear wheel 57 there is disposed the collar 59 andbetween the collar of the beveled gear wheel 57 and the collar 59, theend of a shifting lever is disposed such as shown inFigure 6, this lever60 being cranked at its inner end as at 61 and carrying the roller 62,the outer end of the lever having an upwardly extending handle 63, thishandle operating over a disk 64 shown in Figure 8 provided with threerecesses 65, the lever having a pin 66 engageable in any one of theserecesses, the plate 64 being sufficiently elastic to permit thelever tobe shifted, causing an engagement of the lever with the disk whenever arecess 65 is disposed opposite the pin 66.

It will thus be seen that the lever 63 may be disposed in a verticalposition, in which case the gears 56 and 57 are disengaged from thegears 53 and 51 respectively and no power is transmitted to the washingmachinery or the lever may the gear wheel 51, the `shaft 20 will berotated` at a relatively slow speed. The relatively slow speed is usedwhen the clothes are being washed, that is, when the shaft is beingrotated in such .a direction as to cause the receptacle or cage to belowered to the bottom of the tub while the high speed is used when it isdesired to raise the cage to its highest position and discharge thewater from the clothes and cage.

The shaft 54 carries upon it a beveled friction wheel 67 and a largerfriction wheel 68 as shown most clearly in Figure 3, these beveledwheels being separated from each other by means of the collar 69 andbeing splined upon the shaft 54 and held in place by any suitable means.A motor which is preferably a relatively slowrspeed electric motor anddesignated 70 has a shaft 7l which carries upon it, as shown in Figure3, the two beveled friction wheels 72 and 73. The beveled friction wheel72 coacts with the friction wheel 67 while the friction wheel 73 coactswith the friction wheel 68.

The beveled wheels 67 and 68 with the intermediate collar 69 areshiftable longitudinally upon the shaft 74 by means of the lever 74which is of the same character as the lever 60 and is provided with theroller 75 engaging against the inner faces of the wheels 67 and 68 toshift them. Thus these wheels 67 and 68 may be shifted to a neutralposition and neither of them be en gaged with the driving frictionwheels or in a position where the wheel 72 will drive the wheel 67. Thefriction wheels 72 and 73 may be 4constructed in any suitable manner butI have shown them as provided with the hubs 76 pinned or held by setscrews to the shaft 71. All of these wheels willpreferably be faced withleather or like friction facing material. The handle extremity of thelever 74 operates over a plate or disk 77 shown in Figure 7 providedwith a plurality of openings 78. The middle opening in this plate 77will hold the lever 74 in a neutral position and there are two recesseson each side which will permit the friction wheels to be brought intovery close contact or relatively lightcontact or compensate for wear. Ido not wish to be limited, of course, to the means for holding the lever74 or the lever 60 as other means might be provided for this purpose.

'I'he operation of the mechanism will be obvious from what hasgone'before. Initially, the cage 30 is disposed at the bottom of the tuband lled with clothes the cage remaining at the bottom of the tub duringthe washing operation. It will be understood, of course, that the cagemight be raised to the top of the tub, then the power shut off and thecage filled with clothes but when the washing commences, the cage islowered to the bottom of the tub, the whole ,lower portion of the tubbeing lled with water in through the openings 34 by the vanes 33 andejected through the openings 46a and'` 41a in the bottom and top of thecage. The water in the tub is held from rotation by means of the blades11 and thus the water is forcibly directed into the interior of thevcage, washes the clothes therein and is discharged outward through theperforations in the top and bottom of the cage. When the clothes havebeen suciently washed in this manner, the lever 60 is operated to shiftthe gear 57 out of its engagement with the gear 51 and shift the gear 56into engagement with the gear 53. This causes reverse rotation of theshaft 20 which causes the cage to be raised and move upward until itreaches the stop collar 22. Inasmuch as the cage can go no further, itthen rotates with the shaft 20 and at a relatively high speed, whichspeed may be determined, of course, by shifting one or the other of thefriction wheels 67 or 68 into engagement with the corresponding frictionwheels 72- or '73. This high rotation of the cage acts to discharge thewater by centrifugal force and to spin the clothes dry. The cage mightbe rotated at a relatively slow speed when itis first raised and thenrotated at a higher speed when it is desired topspin the clothes dry. Itwill also be obvious that the shaft 20 when the cage is lowered may berotated at two different speeds, if desired.

While I have illustrated certain details of construction andarrangements of parts, I do not wish to be limited thereto as obviouslyminor changes might be made therein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as dened in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:-

1. A washing, spinning and drying machine, including a tub, a shaftextending vertically through the tub and exteriorly screw-threaded, acage having end walls mounted on the shaft and having a central sleeveextending entirely through the cage and having screw-threaded engagementwith the shaft throughout its entire screw-threaded portion, the tubhaving a height at least twice the height of the cage, the cage havingapertures on its peripheral walls, and through its ends, means forrotating theshaft in opposite directions, and stop collars limiting thevertical movement of the cage on the shaft, the rotation of the shaft inonedirection causing the cage to rise until it reaches the upper stopcollar and then rotate with the shaft and the rotation of the shaft inthe opposite directionv causing the cage to lower until it reaches theother stop collar and then causing the cage to rotate with the shaft.

2. A washing, spinning and drying machine of the character describedincluding a tub and a lid for the tub, a cross bar extending across thetop of the tub, a vertical shaft mounted at its upper end on the crossbar and extending through the bottom of the tub, a thrust bearingcarried by the bottom of the tub and supporting the shaft, that portionof the shaft within the tub being screw-threaded, and provided with stopcollars at opposite ends of the screw-threaded portion, the peripheralwalls of the tub having interior vertically extending blades, a cagedisposed within the tub and having screw-threaded engagement with theshaft, the cage having peripheral openings provided with tangentialvanes, the top and bottom of the cage being perforated, a motor disposedbelow the tub, a driven shaft, means for driving the driven shaft fromthe motor including speed changing devices, and selective means on thedriven shaft for driving the vertical screwthreaded shaft and cage ineither one of"y two different directions.

'3. A washing, spinning and drying machine including a tub havinginterior vertical blades on its peripheral walls and having a cover, avertical shaft extending through the tub, means for operativelysupporting the upper end of the shaft, the lower end of the shaftextending through the bottom of the tub, that portion of the shaftwithin the tub being screw-threaded, stop collars mounted at the upperand lower ends of the screw-threaded portion of the shaft, a cagemounted within the tub and having a central sleeve having screw-threadedengagement with the shaft, the cage being less than half the height ofthe tub, a pair of beveled gear wheels mounted on the lower end of theshaft below the tub, a driven shaft extending at right angles below thevertical shaft, beveled gear wheels mounted upon the driven shaft andopposed t0 each other, manually operable means for bringing either oneof said gear wheels into engagement with either one of the beveled gearwheels on the vertical shaft or into a neutral position, a motor, andmeans for driving the driven shaft from the motor including a pair offriction wheels mounted upon the driven shaft and having differentdiameters, a pair of friction wheels mounted on the motor shaft andhaving different diameters, and manually operable means for bringingeither one of the friction wheels on one shaft into or out of engagementwiththe corresponding friction wheels on the other shaft.

4. In a machine of the character described, a tub, a vertical shaftextending through the tub, that portion of the shaft between the bottomand the top of the tub being screw-threaded, limiting collars carried atthe ends of the screwthreaded portion of the shaft, and a cage disposedconcentrically to the shaft and having a height less than half theheight of the tub, the cage comprising an annular frame having a centralsleeve and radiating cross bars connecting the frame to the sleeve, aninteriorly screwthreaded sleeve disposed within and connected to thefirst named sleeve for unitary movement and mating with, thescrew-threaded shaft, a perforated bottom attached to said frame, and aperforated top formed in two sections and hinged to the cross bars ofthe frame, and means disposed below the tub for driving the shaft ineither of two directions and at any one of a plurality of speeds.

GEORGE W. DAVIS.

